The Rose
by Nyaliss
Summary: Darien has always used the rose as his symbol of love for Serena. So what if the roles are reversed?(Story Reposted)
1. Angel

Author: Dina  
  
Title: The Rose  
  
Chapter: One  
  
E-mail: nyaliss@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: I no own Sailor Moon. I no have money. Please no sue.  
  
Inspired by Kimberly Cate's gorgeous story, "Gabriel's Angel."  
  
(Go read "Gabriel's Angel". Even if you don't read this fic, go read "Gabriel's   
Angel" Am I getting redundant? Ohhh... I don't own any of that either.)  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Uhhhh... Hi? Yeah, I'm scared of me too. _ I never thought to see myself   
again, ya know? I know I only have one chapter of Slumber out but that's because   
I finished the story then someone decided to "clean" our computer and deleted   
all the chapters... I was crushed. I don't know if I even want to continue it   
again. After all a story is never quite the same as when the first time you   
write it. Well, hopefully I'll be able to piece myself back together and finish   
it... or redo it or whatever. *siiiiiighs* Enough of that. *bangs head against   
wall* Anyway, on with the show? Yes, yes. Thanks very much for your patience   
while I blabbered and I hope you enjoy the story!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
...Angel...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"How did you do this?" the Moon asked the Sun in bewilderment.  
  
Venus stood behind the gentle guardian of the night, a slight frown between her   
beautiful brows.  
  
The ruler of the day focused his burning gaze on them, obviously sheepish when   
he was usually so royally commanding. "They landed in the wrong place..."  
  
The Moon, usually sweet, scowled at the Sun and stomped back to her cloud in an   
attempt to comfort the higher angel she guided. She had been very tempted just   
then to kick the Sun- hard- but she knew that would do no good. What was done   
was done. Now all they could do was sit back, watch, try to guide, and hope that   
a happily ever after could still be achieved.  
  
Venus sighed and gave the Sun an exasperated look. "I suppose now you want me to   
concoct a happy ending," she said drily.  
  
The lion-hearted gave her a puppy-eyed look. She squirmed, sighed, and gave him   
a quick kiss on the cheek. "I thought so," she remarked.  
  
She curtsied then made her way back to her resting place where she could easily   
watch her favorite couple. She could have picked them out anywhere, at any time.   
The love that bound their souls together was strong enough to even bewilder her   
sometimes. Time and time again, through every reincarnation, they found each   
other. Usually the Moon would make sure that their paths would cross easily,   
that they would grow up near each other, sometimes even together... But this   
time the Sun had gotten the uncharacteristic impulse to interfere and had placed   
the two lovers as far apart as they could possibly have been. Not in distance...   
But oh in so many other ways...  
  
Venus sighed and slanted a look over her shoulder at Destiny and Fate who were   
quietly watching with her. She noticed the cherubic form of Christmas hovering   
in the outskirts of her cloud and coaxed the beautiful child to sit beside her.   
Christmas, who had wandered away from the other Holidays, smiled sweetly and   
plopped down beside Venus. Together, they leaned forward to watch.  
  
***  
  
A little girl hurried along the freezing streets of the city, her tired little   
legs fighting to keep balance on the snow-slicked sidewalk that was flooded by   
big people rushing past her as they fought through each other to get home. She   
was headed home too, with her basket of flowers that seemed pitifully full to   
her young eyes. It had been miserable weather all day, the snow had been ripping   
out of the sky since that morning and hurling itself at everyone that it thought   
was foolish enough to be out from beneath the shelter of a roof. She had almost   
shouted herself hoarse in her attempts to convince anyone passing by to please   
buy a flower, please buy a pretty flower, all to no avail because everyone had   
been in too much of a hurry to get out of the snow. She sighed and huddled   
inside her tattered excuse of a coat, blinking flakes of snow from her eyelashes   
as well as the suspicion of tears. She couldn't afford to cry now. She was   
terrified that the tears would freeze on her cheeks. Instead she shoved the   
feelings of frustration and self-pity aside to think of her father who she was   
sure was waiting for her return home.  
  
Poor papa had become sick soon after the cold season started. He had become so   
painfully thin that summer while working in the mines that his daughter had   
begged him to stop. He had smiled at her, kissed her forehead, and told her that   
everything was going to be okay. She believed him. She had had no other choice   
but to believe him. He was wonderful man, was her father. He had also been a   
marvelous husband. Mama had died two years ago, leaving the little girl and her   
father desolate without her but throughout it all Papa had always been there to   
comfort her, soothe her, wipe away her tears when she cried for the mother who   
would never croon another lullaby into her ear. Her mother had become sick too.   
She could remember trying to take care of the waning woman when she was only   
five while her father worked two jobs to try and pay for the medicine that was   
needed as well as the daily neccessities of food and water. Every night, when   
she was supposed to be asleep, she would peer at her father tending her mother.   
There had been so much love between them, so much understanding, caring,   
tenderness that the memory of those moments never failed to spread warmth in her   
heart even now. Then her mama had died and the light that had always been in her   
father's eyes faded. She had the suspicion he would have willingly joined his   
wife in death had it not been for their child, but now the little girl wondered   
if her father would have much of a choice left.  
  
"Watch out!" a man's gruff voice broke her out of her thoughts.  
  
She whipped about to find herself almost directly beneath the hooves of a team   
of horses pulling a magnificent black coach. She didn't care much for the   
magnificence of the coach right then and there, however, instead she uttered a   
helpless little cry and half stumbled, half ran out of the way and in the   
process dropped her precious basket of flowers. She watched as the horses   
trampled over the delicate, half-opened roses and felt her heart being trampled   
with them. What could she tell Papa now? She bit back a sob and resisted the   
urge to curl up into herself and just lie there on the road waiting for another   
coach to run over her. Maybe this time she would not have the time to get out of   
the way. Little Serena fought her way to her feet and staggered to the crushed   
flowers and unrecognizable basket. She gathered them all in, making a sort of   
carrier with her skirt, and placed each item there with aching tenderness. Papa   
would tell her everything would be okay. He'd hug her and wipe away her tears   
and tell her everything would be okay. Only she didn't know if she would be able   
to believe it this time.  
  
A warm hand touched her shoulder and she jerked around to stare in wide-eyed   
fear at the most beautiful little boy she had ever seen in her life. He smiled   
gently down at her and her fear turned to confusion. Why was he smiling? Her   
experience of little boys consisted of annoying pranks, name calling, and hair   
pulling. She looked wary. Maybe he was just waiting for the right time to   
pounce...  
  
"Hello," he said softly, staring at the golden-haired girl before him. She had   
smudges of dirt on her cheeks and was clad in what could only be called rags,   
but she still looked beautiful to him. "I..." he paused then looked over her   
shoulder to frown at the scattered flowers she had been carefully gathering.   
"I'm sorry," he said with a catch in his voice. She just stood there, looking at   
him, her wonderfully clear blue eyes focusing at the black coach that was   
waiting for him not too far off.  
  
Understanding.  
  
"You're forgiven," she whispered.  
  
"I-" the little boy broke off then reached into his pocket to press a round   
thing into the palm of her tiny hand. Her skin was so cold... So very, very   
cold. He had the sudden urge to bundle her up in his coat and take her home. She   
shouldn't have to sell flowers to get money for food. She was so young, still so   
young, and yet her eyes... Were so old. Her fingers curled around the coin, his   
Christmas gold coin, but she did not bother to even look at it. She kept her   
gaze fixed on him. He hesitated then reached around his neck to untie the   
leather string he had kept around his neck since he was six. He held it out to   
her, a roughly made cresent moon dangling from it. He had made it himself but   
had been dissatisfied with the results and had almost thrown it away when his   
grandmother had stopped him.  
  
~~~  
"It's beautiful," she had said.  
  
"No it's not!" he had pouted.  
  
"Yes, it is, my sweet. In fact, it's magical!" she had whispered with a twinkle   
in her gentle sherry brown eyes.  
  
His head immediately snapped to attention. "It is?"  
  
"Yes," she nodded. "Have you heard the story of the Moon Princess?" He had   
nodded reluctantly. She had smiled. "Well the cresent moon is her sigil and it   
is said, my darling, that anything bearing her mark upon it is magical."  
  
He had blinked at her, a very skeptical blink. She had laughed.  
  
"Very well, little one," she had smiled. "I guess we can give the magic to   
someone else. I'm sure they'd like the wishes more than you would."  
  
He had stopped her. "Wishes?"  
  
"Oh yes, didn't you know? It makes your wishes come true," she had said solemnly   
as she handed it back to him.  
  
He had frowned thoughtfully then nodded. Together he and his grandmother had   
gotten a hole into the cresent moon and he had worn it around his neck for five   
years.   
~~~  
  
Now he was giving it to this little girl who looked as if she deserved   
more magic in her world than she was getting.  
  
"Take it," he offered.  
  
She stubbornly shook her head.  
  
He sighed and stepped closer to her. To his relief she did not cower away. He   
reached around her and tied the leather into a secure knot around her neck to   
make sure it would not unravel on her way home.... At least he hoped she had a   
home. The thought made him frown. He whispered quietly in her ear as he stepped   
back again, "It's magic. It makes all your wishes come true."  
  
Serena's eyes widened and she stared at that wonderful boy who had, unknowingly,   
given her the gift of hope again when she was almost on the verge of just   
slipping down. But still... "Why?" she asked before he moved away.  
  
"Why?" he repeated, confused.  
  
She lifted the cresent moon, never taking her eyes off of him. "Why?" she said   
again.  
  
"It's Christmas Eve, angel," he told her, smiling, as if that answered all.  
  
Serena frowned in puzzlement. Angel, he had called her. Angel... She smiled at   
his back, a shimmering smile that danced in her eyes and made her face glow with   
joy. She wanted to run back home to Papa and tell him of the wonderful little   
boy and his gift. But first she had to know his name. She blinked and shook   
herself back into the present only to realize that the boy had gotten into the   
carriage and was even now being driven away. She tightened her fist around the   
gold coin he had given her and raced after him, a far enough distance away that   
they wouldn't realize she was following.  
  
The carriage led her to the rich part of town where the streets were clean, the   
houses decorated, and the smell of food cooking filled the air. The mood shifted   
undeniably here. Gone was the gloom, the helplessness, the grief and longing for   
what one could not have that always bore down at the people in her neighborhood.   
Here those feelings were replaced by contentment, warmth, a certain tang of   
celebration in the air that was happily declared by the lights shimmering from   
inside the homes where she could almost make out the happy figures of family   
members laughing together as they gathered. Serena, in her innocence, realized   
she didn't belong in this world. Her raggedy appearance and thin frame did not   
blend well with the surroundings. She frowned, shook her head determinedly, and   
continued to follow the carriage until it stopped before one of the townhouses.   
She ducked behind a tree and peered around the trunk to watch as the little boy   
and his parents climbed out of the carriage while the door of the house flew   
open and out came more of his family, hugging, kissing, loving. An elegant black   
cat stepped outside, swishing her tail and purring, and promptly found her way   
to the little spy's side. She froze, afraid the cat would give her away, instead   
it gazed at her with its wise blue eyes, rubbed its silky head on her cheek, and   
leapt back inside the house before the door closed. The little girl sat there,   
stunned, then she smiled and crept towards one of the large windows.  
  
She found herself looking into a rather large family. The little boy had a   
sister and three other girl cousins besides. The whole house was decorated for   
Christmas and a fire roared happily in the fireplace. A rug was placed before   
the fire and it wasn't long before the black cat and a white companion had   
curled up in front of its warmth. She smiled wistfully, wishing she could join   
them, but knowing she never could. She sighed and scolded herself for dreaming   
impossible dreams. She looked down at the bundle in she had made of her skirt   
that she was still clutching and sorted through the tangle of stems and petals.   
There must be something she could give back to him, to that little boy that had   
breathed magic back into her life, had given her a reason to smile, given her   
the strength she knew... in the back of her young mind... her father would no   
longer be able to provide her in the years ahead. Then she found it, a rose. A   
single, long-stemmed, red rose that had somehow escaped the crushing weight of   
the horses' hooves and the cariagge's wheels. Now how to get it to him? She was   
right back where she started. She had no way to give it to him.  
  
The black cat roused itself, stretched, and yawned then unmistakably turned its   
eyes to her. She could have sworn she saw the feline wink but then she was also   
only eight years old so she could have imagined it. The cat rose fluidly to its   
feet and went to the front door, meowing and scratching the door's surface,   
giving every indication she wanted to be let outside. One of the little girls,   
her little boy's sister, got up and opened the door to let the cat out.  
  
"Raye, what are you doing? It's freezing outside," the little boy said, clearly   
worried.  
  
"Don't worry, Darien," his sister replied. "I'll make sure she comes back inside   
soon."  
  
Serena's mind had gone to wandering. Darien. His name was Darien. It fit him,   
somehow. At least now her little boy had a name. A beautiful name. Darien. She   
felt something sharp gently pierce her leg and she had to swallow a yelp by   
biting her tongue. She glanced down and found the self-same black cat looking   
expectantly at her. She stared back. Magic. Darien had said the pendant was   
magic. Mayhaps he was right, mayhaps no... But she wasn't about to question   
whatever power it was that was allowing the cat to understand. She placed the   
stem of the rose between the cat's teeth, after making sure there were no   
thorns, and stroked its head. "Thank you," she whispered. It seemed to smile   
before returning inside the house again.  
  
"Oh look what Luna brought!" Raye exclaimed in delight.  
  
Luna, the cat Serena figured, ignored the fuss being made about what she was   
carrying and made a beeline for Darien. The white cat turned its head and   
watched its mate as she laid the rose almost reverently at the young boy's feet.   
Darien's eyes went wide and the whole family fell silent.  
  
"For me?" he said in what sounded suspiciously like a squeak. Luna just gave him   
an unwavering stare until he finally bent down to pick up the flower. Just then   
the room exploded into action.  
  
"You have a secret admirer you're not telling us about, Dare?" Mina, the   
self-proclaimed matchmaker of the group demanded of her older cousin. She was   
answered by a forceful no.  
  
"It's perfect, just perfect. Where do you think Luna got it?" Amy said at the   
same time.  
  
"May I see it?" Lita demanded.  
  
"And you were worried about what Luna wanted to do outside," Raye reminded him.  
  
His uncles and aunts and parents were making no sense at all. They were talking   
in a language the children could never hope to understand. It was called Adult.   
So the children naturally ignored them for the time being.  
  
Their grandmother knelt beside Darien's chair and took the rose from him to   
place it in a small, long-necked crystal vase with water. "Where's your cresent,   
little one?" she asked him gently, though something dancing in her eyes said   
clearly that she knew where it had gone.  
  
"I... I gave it away," he said distractedly, still staring at the rose. Amy was   
right. It was perfect. Just perfect. He stood and walked over to the window to   
peer outside while Serena, who had just seconds before been enjoying the   
family's reaction to her gift from outside that window, squeaked and ducked,   
plastering herself against the house's brick wall in an attempt to keep hidden.  
  
"I wonder who it's from..." he wondered out loud.  
  
"A girl," his cousins and sister chorused together.  
  
Their grandmother laughed. "Oh, Dare, just accept it for what it is. A gift. I'm   
sure when the person is ready, you'll be left in no doubt as to who gave it to   
you."  
  
Darien wasn't convinced. "But how do we know it is for me? How do we know that   
Luna didn't just pick it up from the street and put it down in front of me? How   
do we know-" He was silenced by his grandmother's forefinger on his lips.  
  
"Magic, my darling, magic," she told him in a voice he couldn't help but believe   
yet he still opened his mouth to protest. "Now, now, Darien. No arguing with   
your grandmother. Come, it's time to eat. Then time for bed for you young ones.   
You don't want to wake up late tomorrow do you?"  
  
Darien shook his head, sighed, and with one last look out the window followed   
his grandmother to the dining room. He wondered if she got home safe, the little   
girl he had met in the street, the one with the old blue eyes and angelic face   
framed by curls of golden hair. He wondered if she was warm now, if she had   
something to eat, if she had gifts waiting beneath a tree to be opened. He was   
young, only eleven, yet the desire to take her home with him and put her into   
one of his sister's pretty dresses had almost been too much. He shook his head   
and grabbed his sketch book before sitting down at the dinner table and bent his   
head over it, pencil moving busily.  
  
Serena felt strangely at peace, warm, comforted as she stood to tiptoe away from   
the window and out of the rising faces of the cheerful townhouses that welcomed   
her to look but never ever to touch. She felt the corners of her lips lift up in   
a satisfied smile as one hand wrapped around the cresent moon that had been   
warmed by her skin. She would have a wonderful story to tell Papa tonight. She   
glanced up at the sky and at the curtain of clouds that parted right then to   
show her the glowing face of a perfect cresent moon. She stopped walking,   
gripped the pendant tighter, and made a wish... She was going to be an angel,   
the eight-year old thought She was going to make the best angel and she'll be   
his angel just like he had been hers... tonight. With that thought she laughed   
and ran all the way home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"How is it going?" someone said behind her, making Venus jump about five feet   
into the air.  
  
"Must you do that?" she muttered when she was back on her cloud and patting her   
hair back in place. She gave the Sun a reproachful look then sighed deeply at   
the worry in his eyes. "Define 'It'," she said, raising an eyebrow. She knew   
what he meant, she just wanted to give him a hard time that was all.  
  
He squirmed. "Ya know... -It-," he said making funny gestures with his hands.  
  
"That really narrows the field down," Venus said.  
  
Just then the Moon passed them and gave Venus a hug and an impulsive kiss on the   
cheek. "Oh, you're wonderful!" the Moon exclaimed, obviously glowing with   
delight. She smiled then hurried away to tend to whatever business she had to   
do.  
  
The Sun furrowed his brows. "Yes, well... Yes. I take it everything is going   
well?"  
  
Venus just -looked- at him.  
  
It was his turn to sorta kinda squirm. He didn't really squirm. Kings never   
squirmed. He cleared his throat. "Ah. Okay. Keep it up!" He nodded and walked   
away.  
  
Venus just raised both her slender eyebrows and gave Cupid a wry smile. Her son   
merely laughed. She turned back to her view of Earth and smiled her secret   
smile. Oh yes, it was going very well.  
  
***  
  
Ten-year old Serena placed her basket of roses on the steps of a building and   
sighed before dropping herself into a sitting position beside it. The day was   
drawing to a close, the people that had flooded into the streets that morning   
with their long lists of holiday shopping were slowly dissipating in much the   
same manner they had appeared. Her feet ached, but it was a good kind of ache-   
if such a thing existed. She had sold almost all of her flowers today. Most of   
the people had been in a good mood. What with it being five days before   
Christmas and all. She grinned in satisfaction and unconciously touched the   
cresent moon that hung around her neck.  
  
She still embraced the memory of that night to her like a large teddy bear. Had   
father had listened intently to his little girl as she gushed out the story of   
the little boy. She had given him the gold coin and he had looked at it with   
something like tears in his eyes and then had tenderly kissed her temple. She   
made him promise that he would use it to buy medicine and he had, obediently,   
promised, but she was awakened by a sound that night and she found her Papa   
tucking away the gold coin for safekeeping... for her. She had almost confronted   
him right there and then to demand in all her eight-year old glory exactly what   
he was doing, but she didn't. She only watched as he struggled to reach the   
small opening they called a window to stare at the night time sky which had   
cleared as if by magic just for him.  
  
"Our little girl is going to be okay, Irene," he whispered, supporting his   
meager weight with his frail arms by gripping the back of the only chair they   
had in the room they called home. "She has a magic about her, my love, the same   
magic you had about you that always made people, even strangers, care..."  
  
Serena had withdrawn then and tried to keep herself from hearing the rest of his   
words. She had felt as if she was invading in a private conversation almost as   
if she had been eavesdropping on her parents as they talked. Her Papa talked   
alone now, but she had no doubt that her Mama was listening. The kind of love   
they had just didn't end with death. It went on. She wanted love like that.   
Nothing less but a love like that.  
  
The next Christmas Eve she had hung around the street where she had met Darien   
the year before, waiting to see the unmistakable black carriage to pass by. She   
didn't know how she knew which carriage was theirs after all the majority of the   
things came in black, but she knew. She simply knew. So she had followed it   
again, cradling the most perfect red rose she could find from the day's batch,   
and again Luna had fetched the rose from her and had set it before Darien's   
feet. Again his grandmother had placed it in that long-necked crystal vase and   
placed it right beside the window where Serena would huddle outside and look in.  
  
Just watching them made her feel as if she was part of the warmth that went on   
in their home but she knew that she wouldn't give up her beloved Papa even it   
meant experiencing the luxury they did. She just liked watching and dreaming   
that someday she and her father could sit in front of a fireplace and have a   
stacks of gifts underneath the tree to open the next day and then share a   
Christmas feast together. She knew that the moon was more likely to scold the   
sun than for that fantasy to come true, but what use was it to dream if one   
didn't dream big?  
  
"Are you still selling roses?" someone said beside her.  
  
Serena turned her smile to the elderly gentleman who stood expectantly before   
her, eyeing her basket hopefully. "My wife loves roses," he said as if telling   
her a big secret.  
  
She was touched by the warmth that practically glowed in the man's eyes and she   
nodded mutely and stood up to hold the basket in her hands. "Yes, sir," she   
said, friendlier than she usually was.  
  
"Well then!" he exclaimed, obviously delighted. "Can you please give me three?"  
  
She nodded and picked out the three most untouched and handed it to him then   
accepted the coins he gave her. She wondered though why he would buy three and   
it seemed that the question shone in her face for he chuckled and provided her   
with the answer without any prompting.  
  
"Three roses for the three words 'I love you'," he told her. "I never tire of   
telling my wife that, and thank goodness she never tires of hearing it. Thank   
you for the flowers." He smiled and hurried away to catch a coach, leaving a   
thoughtful Serena in his wake.  
  
She tied the shawl around her small shoulders and made sure her earning for the   
day was tucked securely in her pocket where it would not spill out. She was so   
deep in thought about what the elderly man had said that she almost missed the   
black carriage that sped by her, scattering a feeling of worry, fear, and   
foreboding in the air. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned wide eyes at   
the fast disappearing black dot way down the road. Maybe she had imagined it.   
Maybe... She cast a look around, studying the faces of the other passey-bys on   
the street who seemed completely unaffected by the carriage's passing. She was   
really losing it, the ten-year old thought and shook her head. But what if she   
wasn't? She frowned and shifted her weight uneasily from one foot to the other.   
She supposed it couldn't hurt to check. After all the sunset still colored the   
winter sky and the streetlamps were already being lit by faithful men. She   
pivoted around and took off running in the direction of the townhouse.  
  
She came to a screeching halt not too far away, eyeing the carriage warily. She   
snuck around it and ducked into her usual observation spot. The sight that   
greeted her inside the house wasn't very encouraging. The members of Darien's   
family who sat around the fireplace looked dejected, their shoulders stooping,   
their usually smile-wreathed faces creased with frowns. Even the fire looked as   
if it was only making a half-hearted attempt to warm them. She wished she could   
just knock on the door, walk in, and ask Darien what was happening. She felt   
sure he would tell her. Wait... Where was Darien? She almost began to panic when   
a very important- looking man carrying a black leather bag came down the stairs   
conversing with Darien's father. Serena actually got enough of a hold on herself   
to strain her ears in an attempt to listen.  
  
"He is very ill," the strange man said, a sad frown tugging his bushy brows   
together. "His fever is very high and the bump he took on his head isn't helping   
matters much. All we can do now is make sure he drinks lots of liquid and keep   
wiping him down. Give him a dose of the medicine I gave you every six hours. It   
is very important that he doesn't miss even one dose, understand?"  
  
The whole family nodded. Even Mina looked close to tears. Raye's lips were set   
in a thin line, her mother was wringing a lace handkerchief to pieces, and the   
grandparents looked ready to start banging things around. Only Darien's father   
looked calm. Amy's family would not come until tomorrow and Lita's would not be   
arriving until Christmas Eve.  
  
The doctor sighed and glanced at his watch. "I'll be back tomorrow," he said and   
was ushered out the door. Once outside he hung his head and shook it, regret   
painting every gesture he made and every word he whispered. "He's so young.   
Darien's much too young to die. Ah, but death never did care about age." With   
one long sigh, the doctor climbed into the carriage that usually brought   
Darien's family to the townhouses and was driven to his next house call.  
  
Serena surged to her feet, her face masked in an angry frown. How dare he say   
such a thing! Darien wasn't going to die. She won't let him! Angels just didn't   
allow their charges to die on them. They fought and fought to keep them alive   
especially when they were so young like Darien was. She'd show him, Serena   
thought as she glared at the disappearing carriage which carried the doctor.   
She'd show him he didn't know everything. She glanced back into the house and   
met Luna's quizzical eyes. She and the cat had formed a friendship in the little   
time they had been in contact with each other. She supposed that if she wanted   
to keep that friendship, she should stop scowling so fiercely at the cat, but   
she couldn't stop herself so she scowled and shook her head. Luna, strangely   
enough, seemed to be comforted by what was obviously the little girl's refusal   
to believe Darien was going to die. She knew otherwise. Indeed she curled up   
beside Artemis and hid a feline smile. Darien was going to live if the little   
angel had anything to say about it and, as she watched Serena disappear from the   
window, she knew the little girl would be more likely to rant.  
  
Serena came back later that night after eating her supper with her Papa and   
waiting until he was in bed before telling him she had an errand to run and that   
she would be back soon. She had been out of their home so fast she doubted if   
the words had even registered in his brain yet when she disappeared. She   
honestly didn't know what she could do to help the very ill little boy she knew   
was wrapped up in the left-most room on the second floor of the townhouses, but   
she knew she had to try. Maybe she could just keep him company, though she   
really didn't think he'd realize she was even there. She sighed and craned her   
neck to try and see a way to get into his bedroom. The logical part of her brain   
told her quite firmly that she could be hanged if they found her trying to break   
into a rich family's home no matter how good her intentions were, but her heart,   
her soul that was older than her mind and much wiser than her heart, told her   
she had to go up there. Her soul told her she could help, it didn't matter if   
all she could was sit there with him for a few minutes. She glance up at the   
sky, at the moon who seemed to all at once urge her on and hold her back. She   
carefully took the only thing she had brought with her and clamped it down   
between her small teeth and carefully made her way up the tree that grew right   
beside Darien's window.  
  
The branches were bare, slippery with snow, and the wind blew cold against her   
skin but she kept on climbing until she could look into Darien's room. She had   
never seen his room. It was a little boy's room actually, halfway between that   
of a child and a teenager's for Darien was thirteen years old. To Serena that   
seemed ancient. Actually, she could make out very little of what was inside the   
room for only the dim illumination of the fire and a lone candle fought a   
valiant battle against the dark. The little girl frowned. She really doubted it   
did the sick very good to be swatched in constant darkness. Sure it was evening   
but she herself would have prefered to have come awake in a nicely illuminated   
room had she been the one sick and, knowing the erratic sleeping patterns of   
someone ill, she knew he could open his eyes even now. He would be disorinted,   
she supposed, by all that light, but still... She wouldn't put up bright lights   
around him, just soft lamps that would chase the shadows away from the corners   
of the room that was all. At least, she finally realized, someone had parted the   
heavy drapes of his window to allow the silver light of the moon access into his   
room as well the watchful eyes of a certain ten-year old minx.  
  
She remained where she was, just watching through the window as he turned and   
tossed about, restless in his sleep. She held the rose she had brought him close   
to her, protecting it from the plaful winter wind that sought to ruffle its   
scarlet petals and perhaps pluck some off. She began to hum the tune of that old   
lullaby her mother had sang when she was a little girl. She didn't remember any   
of the words, but she did remeber the melody and she hummed it now to the boy   
who lay ill and dying through the window. He stilled his thrashing about and   
seemed to relax into a healing sleep. She smiled, willing to believe with the   
moon shining down on her back that the lullaby had helped even though reason   
told her he couldn't have possibly heard her humming.  
  
She saw a shadow dart into the room and soon found herself face to face with   
Luna. Serena almost fell off the tree in shock. The cat gave her a stern look,   
turned pointedly at the rose, then inclined its head towards the pathway that   
led away from the house. This was the first the black cat had ever, in any way,   
indicated that she wanted Serena to leave and the little girl was hurt, but   
wait... What was that? Someone was going to come inside Darien's bedroom very   
soon. Nodding, Serena placed the rose on the window and scurried down the tree   
in record speed. She jumped to the snow-covered ground and threw one last look   
at the house before hurrying back home.  
  
Grandmere, as the children called their grandmother, walked into her grandson's   
room to be presented with the sight of the boy sleeping as soundly as a baby and   
Luna pressing her nose on the cold surface of the window. Curious, she walked to   
Luna's side and peered outside as well. She blinked at the red rose that was   
placed carefully on the outside windowsill, its velvet red petals gathering   
flakes of snow. Grandmere eased Luna to the floor and opened the window just a   
crack to catch the rose before it was blown away by the wind. She smiled   
dreamily and placed it on her grandson's bedside table. It seemed that Darien   
had a guardian angel.  
  
Serena came by the next night, again with a rose in hand, and the melody of the   
lullaby playing on her lips. Again she climbed up the tree and settled herself   
on the same branch she had perched on the previous night as she watched over   
him, humming the whole time. Again he was tossing in his sleep and again he   
calmed and settled down as soon as she began to hum. Perhaps it was coincidence,   
but it was a comforting coincidence for the little girl because it told her she   
wasn't making the trips in vain. Luna came again that night and this time Serena   
knew to leave the rose and make as hasty exit as possible.  
  
Now, Grandmere believed in angels and she also believed in magic. She also knew   
that kind people who did wonderful things like send his grandson roses on   
Christmas and watch over him while he was ill deserved to be as secretive as   
possible. Besides, Luna seemed to trust this person and she trusted the cat's   
judgement of people's characters better than her own. It also seemed to her that   
her grandson was sleeping better and therefore healing rapidly. She was quite   
content to allow the angel to keep his or her identity a secret for as long as   
he or she wanted. It was purely an accident,therefore, when she discovered   
Serena.  
  
The little girl had settled down on what she now thought of as her branch,   
completely unaware that Grandmere was obscured from her view because the elderly   
woman was putting Darien's newly washed clothes into his closet which stood   
against the same wall the window was built into. Now the lady had first   
dismissed Serena's humming for the wind passing through the leaves as it usually   
did until she realized that there was a definite melody in the tune and that it   
appeared to be soothing Darien from his fitfil sleep into deep slumber. She   
resisted the urge to run to the window and look outside and just kept on   
systematically putting her grandson's clothing away. Perhaps the hummer would be   
gone when she was finished, then she wouldn't have to shatter the veil of   
mystery the person had kept around his or her identity for only two short years.   
The one humming was still there when she finished and shut the closet doors. A   
girl, Grandmere thought, it must be a girl. With that thought she allowed   
herself to be pulled towards the window until she stood beside it, as close to   
the wall as she could possibly get then finally resigning herself to what seemed   
to be Fate's decision for the two of them to meet, Grandmere eased herself into   
view.  
  
Serena was barely able to swallow the scream. She stared in horror at the woman   
who simply looked back at her through the glass. She whimpered, pinned to the   
branch by that look. It was the grandmother. The grandmother had discovered her.   
They would surely call the police now and then they would drag her to those   
horrible places she had heard her neighbors call prison. She couldn't help it.   
Serena began to cry.  
  
Grandmere stared at the girl who sat precariously on a branch of the tree   
outside her grandson's window with her heart in her mouth. What if she fell? She   
could see the shock then terror grow in the clear blue eyes and then the tears   
pool before slipping down smooth cheeks. She was beautiful, was Darien's angel,   
and very much human. Never mind the ethereal glow the moon cast around her or   
the fragile air that just hung on every inch of her. The angel was human, just a   
little girl with dirt- streaked cheeks and tattered clothes, but in the   
grandmother's eyes she was the most regally clad angel and in her hands she held   
the most precious of gifts. The rose.  
  
"Hello, little one," Serena heard the grandmother whisper. She hiccuped and   
peered at the lady through solidifying tears as if expecting to be swiped at and   
knocked off the tree. "Would you like to come in?"  
  
The little girl figured the lady might as well have pushed her off the branch.   
She blinked, for the second time bewildered by a member of Darien's family. She   
looked back, uncertain. "May I?" she asked meekly, softly, afraid that she had   
only imagined the invitation.  
  
For an answer Grandmere opened the window and reached out to lift the extremely   
light little girl into her arms, out of the cold, and into her home. She placed   
her precious burden on the floor and quickly shut the cold wind out again. They   
stood there, child and grandmother, staring at each other in silence. It was   
Serena who broke the gaze. She turned her attention to the bedside table where   
the two roses she had left were sitting in a vase. She padded silently to it and   
placed the third rose between the two, then she stepped back to admire her work   
with a gentle little smile.  
  
"Would you watch him for me?" Grandmere asked, not trusting herself to speak   
above a whisper. What if she spoke loud enough and the girl vanished?  
  
Serena nodded a ferverent yes in response and moved closer to the bed.  
  
"Why do you stand, little one?" the lady asked, puzzled.  
  
"Because I'm afraid I'll get the pretty things dirty," she responded simply.  
  
The grandmother bit her lip and tenderly lifted Serena into her arms and hugged   
her quietly before setting her on the bed. "I'll be back, angel," she told the   
girl. "Okay?"  
  
Serena nodded mutely and waited until the lady was out of the room before   
turning her attention back to the purpose of her visit. Darien. She scooted off   
the bed and returned to where she was standing.  
  
"You'll be okay, Dare," she told him in a fierce whisper. "You're getting better   
already, aren't you? You'll be as good as new come Christmas morning," she   
promised. "Know how? Because I wished it," she nodded unaware that Grandmere had   
come back and was now standing just outdise the door. "I wished it Dare and it   
has to come true because you told me it was magic." She held it up and the   
silver cresent moon caught what little light there was in the room and seemed to   
shine. "So don't worry. Everything will be back to normal." She nodded finally   
satisfied with her speech. "Goodnight, Darien."  
  
She tiptoed her way back to the window and opened it, squeezing herself out and   
managing to transfer herself onto the branch. She scurried down in her usual   
fashion and was almost out of sight when Grandmere got to the window to close   
it. She watched the figure disappear into the night, the warm set of clothing   
she had fetched still clutched in her arms. She whispered two words, "Thank   
you."  
  
She came again the on Christmas Eve and this time the lady was waiting there for   
her. She didn't ask Serena for her name but without hesitation opened the window   
and lifted the girl inside. She ushered Serena into Darien's bathroom and bathed   
her without a word before drying her off.  
  
"Now you can stay beside him," the woman told the child, "without worrying about   
the sheets."  
  
Serena merely stared.  
  
"Don't you think she should wear white, Grandmere?" they heard someone say   
behind them. Their heads swiveled around in unison to find Raye standing at the   
doorway, her arms full of one of her white silk dresses. "Angels always wear   
white," the raven-haired child said wisely.  
  
The angel looked ready to bolt and she would have if Grandmere had not held on   
to her.  
  
Raye's smile left her face and was replaced by a solemn look of promise. "I   
won't tell them," she told Serena. "I won't tell him. It will be a secret. Just   
between the three of us. I can keep a secret, can't I Grandmere?"  
  
Her grandmother smiled gently then nodded, reassuring Serena with a hug. "Yes,   
she can... Come here, Raye. Help her dress."  
  
Raye was only too happy to comply and soon, despite Serena's initial shyness and   
wariness, they were whispering happily to each other, forging a fast and strong   
friendship. It was a beautiful white dress with frills and lace and bows, but   
Serena hardly noticed, all she cared about was that now she was clean enough to   
sit on Darien's bed without making it dirty. And sit on it she did. She hummed   
the lullaby to him as she twirled the rose of the night between her hands. Raye   
stayed beside her, chattering in hushed tones as to not wake everybody else. The   
one person who was not supposed to awake, however, did.  
  
Darien blinked open his eyes and whispered rather hoarsely, "Water.."  
  
Serena froze. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh- Her silent chant was   
cut off when she felt someone pressing a glass of water into her hand. Her   
fingers curled around it and she placed the rose on top of the sheet and crawled   
hesitantly to Darien's side. She looked down at him, at his face that was now   
much thinner than she rememberd, at his eyes still hazy from sleep and the   
illness he was recovering from. And he was recovering, a fact that had surprised   
and delighted the doctor who had given him up for dead. Serena lifted his head   
up gently, in much the same way she used to do to her father when he had been to   
ill to even move, and assisted him in drinking the water.  
  
When he finished drinking, Darien turned his unfocused gaze to her face. All he   
could make out were a pair of wide blue eyes, a cloud of golden hair, and the   
frothy whiteness of a dress. "Who... are you?" he croaked.  
  
Serena said nothing and instead began to hum. She reached for the rose and held   
it in front of him. He reached out, weakly, and took it from her. Red. It was   
red. A rose. He frowned, not quite able to fully comprehend. He turned back to   
her.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Darien," Serena whispered, sniffling. She was crying. She'd   
wanted to say those words to him since the first time she met him. She smiled   
through her tears and kissed his still warm cheek.  
  
He stared back at her and touched her hair. "Angel," he said softly.  
  
Serena just shook her head and reluctantly pulled away. She turned to Raye and   
Grandmere with a wet smile. "I should go now... Papa must be worried," she told   
them then clutched a fistful of the dress of she was wearing. "May I have my   
clothes back?"  
  
Grandmere swallowed back tears. It had never occured to her that the little girl   
would have a family to go back to, loved ones that would worry. It had never   
once occured to her that they just couldn't simply keep her and ask her to stay.  
  
"You can keep the dress," Raye said quietly and when Serena began to protest the   
other girl said, "Please?"  
  
The fair one stared at Raye then reluctantly nodded. "It'll get ruined when I   
climb down the tree though," she warned.  
  
"You're not climbing down any tree," Grandmere said as she dropped a coat around   
Serena's shoulders and fastened shoes on the girl's feet. "Come one, sweeting,   
you're taking the door."  
  
So together, the three of them snuck through the hallway, down the stairs,   
through the kitchen, and out the back door. Serena broke away from them as soon   
as the door opened, running out of their sight with amazing speed.  
  
"Are you sure she's real, Grandmere?" Raye asked.  
  
"Very sure, my darling. Very sure. Now off to bed with you. We have a long day   
ahead of us tomorrow."  
  
Raye nodded and obediently went to her room. On her way she passed her brother's   
room with its door still ajar. She peeked in. "Dare?" she whispered.  
  
No answer.  
  
She went inside and climbed on her brother's bed. "Darien?"  
  
He turned away from the rose in his hands and stared at her. "One day I'm going   
to find her, Raye," he told his sister.  
  
And Raye, looking at her brother's pale face and into his glittering blue eyes,   
believed him.  
  
Not too far away, a father embraced his daughter and wept.  
  
"There are angels on this earth", he thought as he looked at her all wrapped up   
in clothes they would normally never be able to afford but he had nevertheless   
longed to give her.  
  
~There are angels on this earth.~  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
:More Author's notes:  
  
Is it just me or does anybody else think I am way off my rocker? ^ ^*;; Please   
give me feedback. Good or bad. I hope it's good. *wrings hands* Actually, there   
are three parts to this story. The other two are in my head. I was going to   
write it all out tonight but my brain died on me. I need to get a new one.   
Besides, I suppose this story can stand on its own... Suppose being the key   
word. So e-mail me please? Please? Please? Please? *wonders if she has to beg*   
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSEEEEEE??? *begs* Please tell me if its worth   
writing out the other two parts. Otherwise I'll go putter around with another   
idea until it decides I'm good enough for it to actually take form. You know   
something? These things are very addictive. The author's notes I mean. I could   
write pages and pages of just this stuff... On second thought... I don't think   
that would be appreciated though. ^ ^*;; Okay, enough with the babbling. Hope   
you enjoyed what little there is of the story. The childhood part actually got   
longer than I intended. *urks* @_@ Oi. I'll never shut up so... Ummm... E-mail   
is very good!  
  
Always,  
  
Dina 


	2. Masks

Author: Dina  
Title: The Rose  
Chapter: Two  
E-mail: nyaliss@hotmail.com  
Disclaimer: *squuirms* I do not have any money. None. So please don't sue me.   
I don't claim to own any of Sailor Moon. But I do admit to wishing I did...  
  
Author's Notes: ... Cat got my tongue...  
  
*screech* WAIT!!! Thanks for taking the time to read! ^-^  
  
For all those who e-mailed me, thank you. I really appreciate the time you took and the fact  
that you read the fic. It's a great honor.  
  
In answer to the question of where to find "Gabriel's Angel", in the bookstore nearest you.  
The title of the book is -A Gift of Love-. It is a collection of five Christmas short stories.  
I hope you enjoy.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
...Masks...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"No, absolutely not!" Venus said, a frown marring her beautiful brow.  
  
"But Veeeeenuuuussss," the Sun said, sticking out his lower lip in what could   
only be called a pout.   
  
The Goddess of Love stared in utter fascination at the King of the firemaments   
and shook her head. "Sol, will you let me handle this?" she asked gently.  
  
"But, but... I have a great idea..." the lion-hearted began but Venus merely   
shook her head.  
  
"No," she told him firmly. "Last time you got an idea, we all ended getting   
thrown out of Nike's home. It's not at all fun to have the Goddess of Victory   
against you when you're trying to win an argument, you know."  
  
"Is it my fault you accidentally dumped a bowl of soup on Mars?" the Sun asked   
in complete innocence.  
  
He was met by foreboding silence. "May I remind you that it was your idea...?"   
she asked in a deceptively soft voice.  
  
Sol said nothing.   
  
Venus narrowed her eyes. "If you don't attend to your duties in five seconds I   
am telling -her- where you are," she threatened.  
  
Her. The Moon. The Sun let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like an urk and   
gave her a dirty look. "Cheater," he mouthed.  
  
She only inclined her head towards the direction she expected him to take. He   
sighed and trudged off, dragging his feet all the way.  
  
"Venus!" came the screech.  
  
She jumped five feet into the air before gathering her wits and running towards   
the cloud she called her own. Fate stood several feet away, pointing frantically   
at the smiling Destiny that had, somehow, gotten Endymion and Serenity to   
cooperate in order to twine Serena and Darien's path. Venus stopped dead on her   
tracks. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered doing her job when everyone   
else thought they could do it better. Destiny turned and looked over her   
shoulder to give the goddess a sweet, reassuring smile. Venus relaxed and threw   
her hands up in a mixture of exasperation and wry amusement. After all, who was   
she to argue with destiny and fate?  
  
***  
  
"She's a gold digger."  
  
Darien began to twitch, a tick frustrating his eyelid.  
  
Raye looked up and unrepentantly met his eyes. "A gold digger," she repeated.  
  
"Beryl is not a gold digger," her brother ground out.  
  
"She is so," Raye retorted, violet eyes flashing.  
  
Raye couldn't understant what her brother saw in the woman. True, Beryl was   
beautiful in a cold, cruel kind of way that reminded Raye of a diamond-backed   
snake. Her eyes had a predatory glint in them that sent shudders to dance up and   
down the young woman's spine. She cursed the day Darien had met the woman and   
gotten infatuated with her. Infatuated not in love. She was sure Darien knew the   
difference... Or at least she hoped he did. She was aware that she wasn't making   
matters any better by continually irritating her brother about the creepy   
red-head, but she was more worried about what he would do if she didn't. What if   
he actually went as far as marrying her? Heaven help them all. Beryl would suck   
all the life out of Darien's eyes, she'd crush his dreams with her ambition, his   
heart with her lies. She would destroy him. Raye couldn't let that happen. There   
was more than one life at stake here, more than one heart. There were two.  
  
***  
  
Serena entered her small home and removed the scarf from head which managed to   
keep the long locks of golden hair out of her face. She placed the empty basket   
of flowers on the tiny table and padded into the only other room in the   
apartment she and her father shared. She smiled when she found him sitting on   
the bed, bent over his favorite and only book.  
  
"Good evening papa," she said softly and went to embrace him when he looked up   
and smiled at her.  
  
He had gotten better over the years. He wasn't completely healthy, but he was   
strong enough that he could handle odds and ends of jobs twice or thrice a week   
that brought in extra money. She would much rather he didn't, but it helped him   
somewhat. It gave him a reason to get up in the morning. It wasn't much, but he   
was helping with the income and that, more than anything, made him happy.  
  
"Good evening, Sere," he said before putting away the book. "How was your day?"  
  
"Wonderful," she answered with a smile as she went about preparing dinner. "I   
was able to sell all the flowers."  
  
It was the first week of December. People were beginning to think of Christmas   
and, as a result, were more open to spending their money. She had three   
interesting customers today. A little of boy of about six buying his mama a   
'pretty flower', an eccentric woman who bought each of her two kittens two   
flowers , and a certain raven-haired young woman who simply snatched up her   
almost empty basket, counted the remaining five roses, bought them, and swept   
her up to the nearest cafe to grab a bite to eat. Serena had the sneaking   
suspicion it was also to have someone to rant to, and rant she did...  
  
::Flashback::  
"He's being an idiot!" Raye cried over her coffee, almost knocking the waiter   
over with the extremely dangerous way she waved her arms around. It brought to   
mind, irresistably, a deranged windmill.  
  
Serena sipped the coffee she had been given in serene amusement, visualizing the   
steam coming out of her friend's ears. Ever since that night, seven years ago,   
when a solem violet-eyed child had tied a ribbon in a painfully shy girl's   
golden locks, they had been best friends, or as close to best friends as two   
young women whose social status were as different as theirs. Raye was a pampered   
daughter of a rich, well-to-do, loving family. Serena sold flowers every day in   
order to buy bread for each meal she and her devoted father partook of. They   
were as far away as the stars to the moon.  
  
"Who's being an idiot?" she finally asked, aware that Raye would begin   
strangling the unfortunate waiter if she remained silent any longer.  
  
"My brother!" the other girl burst out.  
  
Darien. The thought of the name brought a smile to Serena's lips. Nine years.   
Had it been nine years already since she had first laid eyes on him? Nice years   
of dreams and wishes and friendships and joy. It had become a tradition for   
Serena, Raye, and Grandmere to meet every Christmas Eve. They would sit in the   
grandmother's room and talk of everything and nothing. They delighted in giving   
her gifts, a fact that always left her so speechless and grateful. She didn't   
come empty handed either. She would come to the back door when everyone else was   
asleep, a red rose in one hand and the little things she had been able to buy   
with her saved up money for the year to give to the two women. Luna would sit on   
her lap, purring and sometimes sleeping, but always guiding her to place the   
rose beneath the Christmas tree, on top of a present meant for Darien. They had   
been wonderful nine years. She'd watch Darien grow from a gentle-hearted boy to   
a young man whose smile could melt a woman's bones. She'd watched him flirt with   
girls, escort them to balls, woo them and wondered what it would be like to be   
one of those young women. The thought made her ache, made her long... She had   
promised, in what seemed an eternity ago, to be his angel. His guardian angel.   
She doubted very much if guardian angels fell in love with their charges. It was   
a secret she hugged close to her, treasuring it for however long she could   
dream. She knew that one day Darien would fall in love himself and marry a lucky   
woman. How she wished... She sighed, painfully aware of the cresent moon that   
hung heavy around her neck. Wishes... Dreams...   
  
"Why do you say that?" Serena prompted.  
  
"Because he won't believe me when I say Beryl is a gold digger!" Raye all but   
screeched.  
  
Beryl. The name twisted inside her like a jagged knife. In Serena's eyes, Beryl   
was beautiful, perfect, sophisticated, perfect. Perfect... She always came back   
to that word. It seemed that Darien had the same thoughts. He usually went from   
one girl to another, it was expected. He was a man, rich, and only twenty years   
old. But Beryl was different. He seemed determined to keep her and never mind   
that she was five years his senior. It terrified Serena that she would soon have   
to let him go, but then she realized that he was never hers to begin with. That   
hurt.   
  
"Serena?" Raye asked, voice uncertain. "You okay?"  
  
The other girl managed to summon up a tired smile. "Yes... Just thinking."  
  
Raye's eyes grew shadowed, worried. She knew. Even though Serena thought she had   
her feelings hidden and concealed, Raye still knew. The girl loved her brother   
with a love that she couldn't begin to comprehend. It was a special kind of   
love, this one, and Raye knew that if Darien was given the chance to see Serena   
just once, to speak to her just once he would love her too. Serena wouldn't   
break her brother's heart, she'd protect it. She wouldn't crush his dreams,   
she'd nurture them, help him bring them into reality. She would bring so much   
more color into Darien's life, so much more exuberance. Serena had that kind of   
magic about her. It was a magic Darien had so desperately wanted to believe in   
as a child but had almost forgotten. He needed it. He needed Serena.  
  
"You have to help me, Sere," she said softly, almost desperately.  
  
Serana looked startled. "How, Raye? You know I can't... I musn't...."  
  
"He needn't know," Raye said.  
  
"But... But why?" Serena's hands closed convulsively around the cup she held.   
  
"He doesn't love her," Raye's words held a ring of conviction in them. Truth.  
  
"You don't know that," the other whispered, staring into the lukewarm liquid   
whose taste still lingered on her tongue.  
  
"Yes, I do," was the counter. "She's dangerous for him."  
  
"It's not for us to say..." Serena hesitated.  
  
"She'll destroy him," Raye went on.  
  
"You don't know that!"  
  
Raye stared hard at her friend, eyes unreadable. "You won't destroy him."  
  
Time stopped. Serena gasped as if she had just been slapped then punched in the   
gut. Fear registered in her eyes and Raye immediately began to mentally curse   
herself twenty times the fool.  
  
"God, I'm sorry, Sere," she apologized, taking one of her friend's suddenly   
freezing hands in her own. "I'm sorry..."  
  
Serena's eyes clouded but she smiled bravely at the raven-haired girl and   
squeezed her hands reassuringly. "I should have figured you'd know," she said   
softly, swallowing back the urge to cry all over the other's immaculate blouse.  
Raye nodded mutely and rose, pulling Serena along with her. She paid the waiter   
and grabbed the basket before leading the way out the door. The air greeted them   
with cool questing fingers. It was comforting, in an odd sort of way.  
  
"You have to help me," Raye repeated, watching a couple walk past them hand in   
hand.  
  
"How?"  
  
She started. She hadn't expected to hear that word. She turned to look at the   
golden-haired girl next to her. Angel. It was of little wonder her brother had   
called her that. His angel.   
  
"I..." she began, uncertain.  
  
Serena finished the sentence for her. "Don't know..."  
  
Raye nodded mutely. "Just say you will. Please, Serena? Please?"  
  
"It isn't-"  
  
"For us to say, yes I know," Raye cut her off almost impatiently. "If he truly   
loves her, nothing we do will stop him from going on to marry her."  
  
"You really think he'll marry her?" Serena asked, prying her empty basket of   
flowers from her friend's clutching fingers. She didn't even want to think of   
what the answer to that question could be. She didn't want to know how Darien   
really felt about Beryl in fear that he just might really, truly love the woman.   
  
"Not if I can help it," Raye said through gritted teeth. "Say it Serena."  
  
"I'll help you," she agreed with the creeping feeling what she was going to do   
was wrong. Very wrong. God, she shouldn't even be sticking her nose in such   
business. She felt like a scheming, good-for-nothing idiot.  
Raye's smile was decidedly brighter. She moved to hug her friend.  
Serena held up a hand to stop her. "Within reason," she said.  
  
"Within reason," Raye echoed and finished the hug. She took a step back and   
nodded. "I'll try to come back tomorrow or the next day. Thank you, Sere. Take   
care!"  
  
Serena waved as he friend turned on her heel and disappeared hurriedly into the   
crowd. She stood there for several minutes. What had she gotten herself into?  
::End Flashback::  
  
Serena sighed and finished setting the table. Maybe she could talk to Raye later   
tonight and tell her she'd changed her mind. Footsteps approached and a chair   
scraped back against the floor.  
  
"You're worried about something," her father's gentle voice broke through her   
thoughts.  
  
She jerked back into reality and smiled while shaking her head. "Just thinking."  
  
"You've been thinking too much these days," he observed.  
  
She sat down beside him and stared at the foot. "There are lots of things to   
think about papa," she answered.  
  
"Yes," he said, sensing she did not want to speak about it. "There are."  
  
***  
  
"Raye," Grandmere said. "You shouldn't meddle in your brother's affairs."  
  
The girl threw her a puzzled look. "You approve of Beryl?" she asked,   
incredelous.  
  
"Nooooo..." Grandmere admitted uncomfortably. "I don't."  
  
Raye's frown grew even more confused. "Then why-?"  
  
"You're brother can take care of himself. He's grown and he knows how to deal   
with women. He's not the defenseless pup you paint him out to be."  
  
The look she received from her grand daughter frightened her. When Raye got that   
mischievious light in her eyes everybody in the world would be better off   
hiding. Preferably on the other side of the universe.  
  
"Who said anything about taking care of him?" she asked. "What Darien needs is a   
nice, beautiful, loving girl who'll take his mind off of Beryl and get the woman   
away from him. He'll eventually get over her, but right now he's infatuated. She   
won't let him go while her claws and fangs are still in him. That woman is a   
hazard. She'll drag him to the altar before he knows what hit him."  
  
Grandmere's eyes narrowed. Suspicion. "And do we have a girl in mind?" she asked   
carefully.  
  
Raye had her back turned and her arms inside her wardrobe, fishing out the   
dresses she had never worn before. "Don't you think white would look lovely on   
her?" she asked off-handedly. She had to hide a grin when she heard someone   
choking behind her.  
  
"Heaven help us," Grandmere gasped out.  
  
***  
  
Heaven help her. Serena gaped at her best friend, her mouth opening and closing   
like a fish out of water.   
  
"Serena, you need to breathe," Raye advised.  
  
"I can't!" Serena finally fought out.  
  
"You can't breathe?" Raye asked.  
  
"No! I mean, I can't possibly do what you're asking me to," the other girl said   
on a wheeze.  
  
"Yes you can," Raye said, waving away all her friend's worries.  
  
Serena stared at her friend. The woman was crazy. Insane. Had she been dropped   
when she'd been birthed? A horrible thought dawned on her. What if Darien had   
the same mental condition? She almost wailed.  
  
"Serena, snap out of it," Raye commanded. "You will and you can do it. It's not   
as if I'm asking you to run around my brother naked..." She pursed her lips   
thoughtfully. "Though the idea does have merits..."  
  
Serena turned red.  
  
"Why can't you do it?" Raye sighed.  
  
"Because I have morals, that's why!" she said shrilly.  
  
Raye looked confused. "It's just a masked ball, Serena. Sure, it's a three day   
event, but I'm only asking you to be there for one night and I assure you we   
aren't going to be anything..." Serena looked suspiciously green. "What exactly   
did you think I was asking you to do?"  
  
The only response she got was a mutter.  
  
"I beg your pardon?"  
  
"I thought you were asking me to run around your brother naked..."  
  
Raye fell backwards, laughing.  
  
"It's not funny!" was the indigant protest.  
  
"Hnnnnnn," was the choked answer.  
  
"I'm leaving!" Serena declared and prepared to walk out of the cafe.  
  
"Awww, sit down, Sere," Raye cajoled. "You still haven't said yes yet."  
  
"I told you I can't do it."  
  
A frown. "Why not?"  
  
"Because of my papa for one thing!"  
  
"Oh," Raye smiled peacefully. "Don't worry. Grandmere is taking care of him   
right now."  
  
Blue eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Grandmere is in on this?" she squeaked.  
  
"Hnnnnnn..." Raye said.  
  
"What is 'hnnnnn' supposed to mean?" Serena demanded. "Never mind," this at   
Raye's laughter. "I still can't do it."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't have anything to wear," she said exasperated.  
  
"Who says?" Raye raised both eyebrows.  
  
"What do you mean-?"  
  
Raye shushed her with a wave of her hand. "If you ever want to know where your   
papa is, you'll say yes."  
  
Serena's jaw fell open. "What?"  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"You're not serious," was the incredelous squeak.  
  
"Try me," Raye invited.  
  
"This is blackmail!"  
  
"Very good blackmail," Raye agreed.  
  
"Seriously...?"  
  
Laughter. "Oh, Sere... You know we won't hurt him. He's being taken care of.   
Just say yes."  
  
"No."  
  
"No?"  
  
"He'll find out..."  
  
Raye knew who the he was. Darien. "It's a masked ball! You never have to appear   
in public until they start!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"Say yes."  
  
"N-"  
  
"Not no, yes," Raye promted.  
  
"Yes?" Serena asked, bewildered.  
  
Raye's smile bloomed and she grabbed her best friend by the wrist and procceeded   
to drag her out of the cafe. "Good. We start immediately!"  
  
"But I-" Serena found herself talking to the closed door of a carriage. Funny   
thing was, she was inside. Raye plopped down beside her with a smug smile.   
  
"You're evil," she accused.  
  
Raye's smile broadened and she giggled. "I know."  
  
***  
  
Darien smiled and stood, removing the gloves from his hands as he stared down at   
his work in satifaction. Rose bushes lined up neatly to salute him in his own   
little corner of the garden. He had been meaning to plant roses for a long time.   
Red roses. He liked to think it was because he enjoyed the flowers for   
themselves but that traitorous part of him merely chuckled and pointed out   
mockingly that it was because they reminded him of that night seven Christmases   
ago when he'd woken up from a fevered dream to find a golden girl leaning over   
him to help him drink. The roses were from her. She had given him one before   
leaving him again without a word.   
  
What was she like now, he wondered. Beautiful, most likely. Perhaps even   
married. The thought jarred him and twisted his gut into an unpleasant ball of   
cold steel. He remembered her as a child, but common sense dictated that she was   
now a woman grown. He had an image of her in his mind's eye. Taller now, he   
imagined her to be, graceful, slim as a willow with long golden hair that   
floated past the small of her back. Her hands were warm, delicately boned just   
like the rest of her. Lovely, just like her eyes. Though the rest of her   
features never quite got past the foggy stages of invention in his mind, her   
eyes were always clear. They were blue. Sweet, laughing, gentle, tender...   
Magical. Just like the roses she left for him every Christmas eve. He sighed and   
rubbed the back of his neck restlessly and turned to go back inside the house.   
He had preparations to make.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Who in the world is Beryl?" the Moon's indigant voice behind her made Venus   
jump.  
  
Second time today, the goddess thought.  
  
"Someone get her out of the picture," the Queen said, obviously annoyed with the   
red-haired woman.  
  
Serenity turned away from the scene playing out below them and smiled sweetly at   
the Moon. "We need her," she said.  
  
"No you don't," Eurynome said frowning.  
  
"Perhaps wine would be pleasing to the lady...?" Destiny asked relinquishing her   
position to Fate.  
  
The 'lady' turned to pin Venus with a look. "I do hope you'll take care of   
this."  
  
Venus smiled weakly. "Of course, Eury... Of course."  
  
The Moon harrumphed then stalked off.  
  
"Great mood she's in," Endymion commented without turning away from the events   
below.  
  
Venus frowned at the higher angel and scooted him out of the way so she could   
sit.  
  
"She has a point though," Serenity said. "How do we get rid of Beryl?"  
  
Fate and Destiny giggled. "We won't have to," Fate said. "She'll get rid of   
herself."  
  
***  
  
The ball was in full swing when Darien entered it with Beryl on his arm. He   
stood stiff, the domino mask resting on his nose covering irritated midnight   
eyes. He didn't like what Beryl was wearing. It left little to the imagination.   
It fit her like a glove and emphasized her... endowments. He was under the   
impression she had donned the purple feathered mask which matched her dress as   
an afterthought. She was a handsome woman. Handsome because he could not quite   
call her beautiful. He associated that word with his mother, his sister,   
cousins, and his angel. Not Beryl. Her features were too strong, almost harsh.   
Handsome it was then. He was under no illusion of what it was she was after.   
Certainly not his heart, certainly his money. He would not, however, admit it in   
front of his sister. It never once occured to him that he would be much better   
off if he had.  
  
***  
  
"You look breathtaking," Raye gasped as she watched the lady's maid fasten the   
silver mask over Serena's features. The girl wore a simple white dress made of   
silk which flowed to the floor, clinging to her form as she moved. The first day   
of three was the most informal. It was a simple introduction to the other guests   
of their hosts, Mina and her husband Kael. It was the only part of the three days of  
celebration which Serena could attend, because it was the only night where masks  
were required and a must. That was not the original plan but Raye had pulled some  
strings. There had to be some things to be said about having the hostess for your cousin.   
  
"I think I'm going to trip," Serena said, sounding nauseated.  
  
"Hush," Raye told her. "You won't trip. You look perfect." Serena's mass of hair   
had been brushed to a burnished gold, half of it twisted into an intricate bun   
made to shape like a rose. If Darien didn't get the hint, he deserved to marry   
Beryl. She wore no other jewelry but the cresent moon studs on her ears. She   
didn't need jewelry. The flashy things would have ruined the whole vision of   
innocence she projected. Ethereal. That was the word.  
  
"Easy for you to say," Serena commented. "You've been living in these things all   
your life."  
  
Raye laughed and adjusted her own dress, black where her friend's was white, her   
hair pulled from her face where Serena's was left down. She cocked her head to   
one side while her violet eyes studied the picture they made in the full length   
mirror. Striking.   
  
"I don't want to do this," Serena said seriously.  
  
Raye touched her arm and shook her head gently. "Too late," she said. "Come on   
Serena, time to go."  
  
Serena allowed the other girl to take her by the elbow and lead her out the   
guest room she had been installed in. They had arrived at the mansion that   
morning and she, exhausted from all the rushed fittings and 'neccessities' Raye   
had conducted, had collapsed into a deep sleep. She had been awoken by a maid   
two hours before to begin the preparations. A long hot bath came first, then   
dressing, then the hair, then the finishing touches. It struck her as ridiculous   
that ladies spent all that time just to get dressed, but as she waited for the   
footmen to open the door that led to the ballroom she wondered why they hadn't   
taken longer.  
  
Serena's first impression of the large room was light. Lots of it. Blinding   
light that assaulted the senses with the help of glittering stones polished to   
perfection dripping from women's ears and necks. She had never seen so much   
color in her life. She had the unbalancing sensation of having been thrown into   
a painting in which the painter had incorporated every shade of every color   
conceivable by the human eye. It scared her witless. She didn't belong here, she   
didn't fit in. This was insanity in its highest form. She wasn't aware of having   
made a move to flee back out to the hallway until she felt the pressure of   
Raye's fingers on her arm. Concerned violet eyes gazed back at her through the   
simple ebony colored mask that obscured her friend's features.  
  
"It's going to fine, Sere," Raye whispered, threading the other girl's arm   
through hers and leading them inside.  
  
Serena felt like she was going to drown. Foolish, foolish girl. The thought kept   
on repeating itself over and over and over again in her head until she had the   
inkling that banging her skull against one of the beautifully wallpapered walls   
would be the only cure.   
  
"I can't dance," she hissed in panic.  
  
Raye quirked an eyebrow and stopped, taking her gently by the shoulders. "Don't   
tell all those times we spent together under Grandmere's tutelage didn't do any   
good. She'll be crushed if she knew."  
  
She'd forgotten about that. Serena cursed her friend's memory and grasped at   
another straw, found it strong and true. "This is not my place," she said   
slowly, sapphire eyes gazing back with an earnestness that was almost painful.  
  
"Oh, Sere..."  
  
"You know it isn't, Raye..."  
  
Raye sighed and shook her head before tugging the other girl around so she could   
see the occupants of the ballroom. "Look at them, Serena," she said seriously.   
  
"You're worth all of them combined even with all their jewels and silks and the   
paint on their face."  
  
"But this is pretending to be something I'm not!" Serena protested for which she   
received a sharp look.  
  
"That is where you're mistaken," Raye said. "They are the ones who pretend. They   
smile at each other with their lips but their eyes tear each other apart. The   
pretend to be each other's friends but they are envious and viscious and they do   
not hesitate to spread gossip about one of their own if it will further their   
own interests. They're the pretenders, Sere. Fake from the tops of their heads   
to the soles of their feet. You've never been anything but yourself. It doesn't   
matter what you're wearing," she touched the shoulder of the white dress.   
  
"You're still the same Serena inside. That's not pretending now, is it?"  
  
"You're logic is-," Serena began.  
  
"Solid," Raye interrupted before she could finish. "Come on, let's go find   
somewhere to sit."  
  
She's done it again, Serena's bewildered brain screeched. Sometimes it amazed   
her how easily Raye could discard her fears. It wasn't that she was timid, she   
was just cautious. She chuckled. Her father would never have described her as   
cautious, but beside her raven-haired friend, she was a paragon of caution. Yeah   
right.  
  
"Sit," Raye urged, pushing her down gently on one of the cushioned armchairs   
that were littered around the ballroom, usually standing only a few feet away   
from the glass doors that led to the sweeping garden. Serena sat. "I'll be right   
back. I'm going to go get us something to drink, hrmmm?" With those words, Raye   
turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd.  
  
That was when the golden-haired young woman sighted the reason of her presence   
in the ballroom. Darien. He stood not twenty feet away from her chair,   
surrounded by a circle consisting of both males and females, discussing some   
topic or another. She felt nervousness invade every nerve of her body. God, he   
was standing so close and heaven, he was beautiful. She could only see his   
strong, perfectly carved profile with its high aristocratic nose, flawless skin,   
and perfectly sculpted lips that gave the impression of strength and sensuality   
all at once. She knew that the eyes hidden by the white domino mask were a shade   
of blue midnight kept to itself. He had a piercing gaze, one that went right   
past the barriers and the mask right through the soul. Right now there was a   
curious inquiry in that gaze and half-mocking amusement as well as a patronizing   
smile on his tantalizing lips.  
  
Serena blinked as a mortified flush tinted her cheeks pink when she realized   
that he had felt her stare on him and had turned to look back at her. She   
suddenly found herself the sole recipient of his gaze and attention and could   
not have described a more horrifying experience in her life. Ironic since she   
had dreamed of this time in countless nights. She did the only thing a young   
woman in her position would have done, she stood up as gracefully as she could,   
turned away, and vanished in the direction of the ballroom exit.  
  
Darien frowned and, before his mind realized what his legs were doing, had set   
off to follow the white-clad girl who moments before had seemed utterly   
fascinated with his tie. With the usual sixth sense of every other person, he   
had instictively turned to meet the eyes of someone whom he had felt had been   
looking at him. He had to admit he was reduced to staring as well. She had   
literally taken his breath away and had reduced his usually brilliant brain to   
mush. Slushy, gooey, swooning mush. It was a feeling he welcomed. It was a   
feeling he did not like. For one thing, he never swooned. For two things, he   
never stared at a woman and he had never had to fight the overpowering urge to   
pick her up and run far, far away with her. Heaven be merciful, he believed he   
was half-ready to propose marriage and half-ready to kidnap her right then and   
there. It was very disconcerting. If only he had known that somewhere, up where   
the stars sang in chorus, one goddess and one Fate and one Destiny were rolling   
on the clouds, clutching their sides with hysterical laughter at the sight of   
one Darien getting a dose of his own medicine.  
  
"Hey!" a very familliar voice protested as his arms automatically shot out to   
save the female he had collided with from kissing the floor, beautifully tiled   
though it was. "What's the hurry?"  
  
Darien glanced down and blinked at a young woman who was obviously his sister.   
"Two glasses of sherry?" he queried in spite of himself.  
  
She nodded and turned towards the chair his lady had occupied before she had   
fled. Wait a darn minute. His lady?   
  
"Yeah. The other one is for my..." she trailed off. Blinked. "Friend?" She   
directed her confused expression back towards her brother. "Where'd she go?" As   
if she didn't have any idea.  
  
"That's what I'm going to find out." Darien released his sister and, without   
another word, stalked towards the direction Serena had taken leaving Raye   
standing where he had left her with a grin splitting her face in two.  
  
It was working! Joy, joy, joy, joy- Raye almost dropped the crystal glass on the   
floor when someone grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. She found   
herself blinking back into her brother's frowning face.  
  
"Do you know her?" he demanded. To which his only answer was a wide-eyed,   
bewildered stare. "Never mind," he muttered, impatient, before disappearing   
again. He could have sworn he heard his sister's laughter chasing after him.  
  
The ballroom doors opened to allow him into the well-lit hallway and shut firmly   
behind him, muffling the music from inside and effectively changing the   
atmosphere from suffocatingly festive to peacefully happy. He began walking   
quickly to the end of the hallway and chanced to look up as he was about to turn   
a corner to another hallway that led to the formal dining room. He didn't need   
much more encouragement to go bounding up the stairs to the second floor than   
the whisper of a white skirt disappearing through the library door.  
  
The large, vaulted room with it's floor to ceiling bookshelves was quiet, the   
air thick with anticipation. He turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees   
and had just made up his mind to leave when he heard the sound of footsteps   
coming and the raking jangle of drunken female laughter. For some reason that   
even he, to this very day, could not explain, Darien was gripped by panic and   
the fear of being discovered. One frantic look around showed him a promising   
hiding place. He made a beeline for the small closet where the librarian kept   
his staunch brown robes he used when he was working in the library. Where else   
would he be working? He opened it, squeezed himself in just in time before the   
couple stumbled into the seemingly abandoned library, and heard a distressed   
squeak beside him.  
  
He turned and found himself trapped in an agitated, summer blue gaze.  
  
His own eyes widened and a single word left his lips, "You."  
_______________________________________________________________________  
More Author's Notes:  
  
Hey look. I actually finished the second chapter. Yay! This was originally   
suppose to be a one-parter but it didn't want to stay that way and it said that   
if I insisted on making it a one-parter it wasn't going to get written. Yes, I   
know, I am insane. o.O Wait, does anybody actually read this story? *dies* I am   
horrible at details. I either don't do them or I blather on about them until the   
neverending tomorrow. I only have one plea. Please e-mail me. Tell me what you   
think. Good or bad. I would really appreciate it. Again, thank you for taking   
the time to read. I can't say that last one enough.  
  
Always,  
Dina  
  
Edited September 2002  
((Yes I know that took a while. ;__; I promise the third chapter will be out next  
week with some explanation of why I've been out so long.)) 


	3. Closets

Author: Dina  
Title: The Rose  
Chapter: Three  
E-mail: nyaliss@hotmail.com  
Disclaimer: I still don't own any part of Sailor Moon... Still wishing.  
  
Author's Notes:  
Uuuuuuuhhhhhhmmmm... Hi. *listens to silence and echoes* ^^; I have been  
gone a while, eh? I apologize for my neglect. I really have no excuse. It's  
just that... Life happens. I can't say any more than that.  
  
I would, however, like to take the time to thank all those that have been with  
me through the past year. Thank you. You guys, and you know who you are, have  
been great. Thank you for the support, for the patience, for the kindness, for  
the understanding, for the hope that you've given me. Thank you for never  
letting me give up even when it seemed there was nothing left for me to do. You've taught  
me lessons these past months that I will carry with me throughout my life. I will  
be forever grateful.  
  
WARNING: Let's just say... It's a bit... Melodramatic? I don't know a good word to  
describe it... ^^; SHORT CHAPTER. And a reminder, this is an AR fic written for  
the sheer enjoyment and satisfaction of the seventeen year old author, though she's not   
sure what you'll think of it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
...Closets...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Everyone held their breaths.  
  
Everyone was still as they watched the events below unfold.  
  
Everyone, that is, but for one.  
  
"So now what?" Sol demanded in a voice that seemed overly loud considering  
the utter silence that had blanketed his companions.  
  
Everyone winced and, as one, turned to face the King.  
  
"SHHHHHHHHHH!" was the unanimous command.  
  
Sol emitted an 'eeep' but did not listen to Wisdom. "Well? They're just  
standing there? Make them do something, Venus!"  
  
The goddess of Love opened her mouth to speak but was forestalled by a  
fuming Moon. "If you hadn't decided to mess with Karma, they wouldn't  
be just 'standing there' in that closet."  
  
The Sun's eyes darted every which way and he coughed.   
  
"So be quiet and just watch," Eurynome continued, "or go away and leave  
Venus in peace."  
  
"But..." the Sun began but trailed off when he saw that Venus, Serenity,  
Endymion, Fate and Destiny were watching him and Eury instead of the  
couple below.   
  
"They're just as fun to watch, aren't they?" Fate said with a slight giggle.  
  
"Yeah," Endymion agreed with a sidelong glance at the grinning goddess seated  
beside his soulmate. "Almost as fun as watching Venus and Mars."  
  
"Why you..." Venus growled ever so slightly before remembering herself. She  
lifted her nose up haughtily in the air and sniffed. "It is all his fault."  
  
"That's the gratitude I get for urging one of mine to give your favorite  
lovebirds a hand?" a very male, very amused voice murmured behind her.  
  
Mars.  
  
Venus shut her eyes and wished, desperately, for something hard to hit herself  
with. Why couldn't they all just leave her in peace to do what she did best?  
  
***  
  
"You."  
  
The word hung breathlessly between them, shutting out all the noise that existed   
beyond the small confines of the closet that was, for the moment, their world. Darien's   
voice shimmered in the air as real as the masks they wore on their faces and the  
unsteady rhythm of their hearts. It covered a multitude of meanings yet said nothing at  
all.   
  
Her eyes were so... blue.  
  
A beautiful, warm, achingly familiar shade of blue.  
  
Darien's breath caught and, for endless seconds, ceased.   
  
"Your eyes," he said in a broken whisper as he unconsciously lifted a hand as if to touch  
her face, but he stopped short inches from her nose.   
  
Serena merely looked at him in silence, hands at her side, features a neutral mask. There must  
be someone out there who was bent on making her crazy. She had fled to the library in hopes  
that he would not be able to find her there and had jumped into the most unlikely, or so she   
thought, hiding place available only to have him intrude upon her privacy. Her privacy! The  
thought and her current situation threatened to rip a very unladylike snort from her lips which  
would probably be the prelude to hysterical laughter or tears. She was, very frankly, scared.   
  
She stared at his face, so close... All she had to do was reach out and she would be able to  
brush her fingers along the strong line of his jaw; all she had to do was lean forward and she  
would be able to press her lips upon his cheek. It would be easy. He would not expect her  
to do anything like that.  
  
And she wanted to do it.  
  
She wanted to take that one small step towards him and wrap her arms around her waist,  
rest her ear against his chest to listen to his heart. She wanted to tell him how many times  
she'd stood outside of his home, looking through the window to watch him. She wanted to  
tell him about all her hopes, her dreams, her fears. She wanted to take his hand in hers and  
press it against her cheek. She wanted... She wanted to tell him...  
  
I love you.  
  
Her eyes clouded over, darkened, and she bowed her head and allowed her lashes to  
sweep down against her cheeks to hide her expression. So what if she did do all those  
things? It wouldn't matter. It wouldn't be enough. There were so many things she  
wished for, so much longing in her for things that could never be. It hurt to think even  
think about them. A hand wrapped around her heart, squeezed. If only wishes really did   
come true... If only there really was someone out there who would only give her half the  
chance to prove that though she might not be worthy of him, that she loved him as no  
one else would. If only that someone would also ask her what she wanted and give it  
to her. What would she ask for? What did she want?  
  
She wanted him to reach out and wrap his arms around her to pull her into the cradle of his  
embrace, to warm her and hold her. She wanted him to tell her everything would be okay,  
that all of her dreams would come true and none of her fears would be able to touch her   
because he would be there to keep them away, at bay. She wanted to feel his fingers curl   
around her own, wanted to look into those midnight blue eyes of his and see a smile light their  
depths. She wanted to be able to give him the Christmas presents she had collected for him  
over the years and kept hidden under her bed. She'd always been afraid to leave them with  
the roses she left every year, half afraid and half ashamed.   
  
What were her gifts compared to those he received from family and friends? They were   
nothing in comparison, but that did not keep her from dreaming. She had often imagined him   
opening one of her gifts, of watching a smile start deep within his eyes before they would curve   
his lips. Serena, however, had never imagined herself there with him as he opened her gift.  
She'd never seen herself in her mind's eye sitting beside him, watching as a smile spread over  
his features and him hugging her in thanks. She had accepted long ago that it would never  
be and so contented herself with the idea of anonymously sending her presents, but she never did  
send them.   
  
She wanted...  
  
Love.  
  
His love.  
  
And the impossibility of it, the hopelessness, hit her like a kick in the gut as she opened her eyes  
and lifted her head to gaze at his face half hidden in the shadows of the closet. He would never  
know her. He would never love her.  
  
Never.  
  
"Are you okay?" she heard him say, his husky voice colored with concern. "You look pale."  
  
Serena wrapped her arms around herself and met his eyes. He was studying her with his usual  
quiet intensity. It was unnerving, it made her nervous, but it was also exhilarating. The color  
which he had been so concerned about crept back to her cheeks and a smile, sweet and tender,  
found its way to her lips. She remained silent for several more seconds, contenting herself with  
gazing at his face. Perhaps she was a foolish girl for giving her heart to someone who would  
never return her feelings, for yearning for someone that life had made sure she would never have.  
The pain around her heart contracted then eased, leaving her to draw in a shuddering breath that  
shook her slim shoulders as if she was in tears. She had accepted that she would one day have to  
let him go, that she would one day have to give him up. She had just never known it would be so...  
hard. She felt something warm brush her arm and bit back a gasp when she realized he had laid a   
hand on her shoulder. Serena turned her head to stare, fascinated, at the back of his hand so very   
close to her face.   
  
"Why..." he began softly, his voice low and strained.   
  
She again lifted here eyes to his and his brain stuttered to a stop. Honest to heaven, she was   
beautiful; however, for once in his life Darien was not sure if he found her beautiful because of   
the obvious perfection of her features. For once, he wondered if he found her beautiful because   
she called to a part of him that he had never known existed. That part of him that compelled him   
to nestle her in the curve of his arms and never let her go. He had a ridiculous notion to ask her   
then and there to marry him. The realization that such thoughts were running through his mind made   
his stomach coil into an unpleasant knot that almost sent him into a panic. She brought out feelings   
in him he had not known he was capable of and wasn't very sure if he liked very much. She terrified   
him, this angelic slip of a girl dressed in white.   
  
"Why...?" she repeated in a hesitant little voice.  
  
"Why do I..." Darien trailed off again.  
  
Know you?  
  
Why do I feel this way?  
  
Why do I have this desperate need to hang on to you and never let go?  
  
"Why?" he repeated, at a loss.  
  
Serena's brows furrowed, bewildered. A memory of Raye and her fear of Darien having some   
sort of affliction sparked briefly into her mind and made her wince. Perhaps she had been right   
except where Raye was able to baffle her with words, Darien baffled her with his lack thereof.   
She wanted to shake him but was saved from actually doing so by the outside world.  
  
The laugh, sickeningly sweet and grating, that had sent Darien diving for cover rang out again,   
closer this time, and brought both occupants of the little librarian's closet crashing back to reality.  
Serena squeezed herself tighter into the corner she had worked herself into and tore her gaze from   
his face to peer through the small rectangular slits worked into both doors that served as a means to  
open the closet. What she saw shocked a gasp from her throat.  
  
"Beryl," Darien bit out beside her from where he himself was peering out.  
  
Indeed it was Beryl. A rather drunk Beryl who swayed precariously on her feet even as she   
waved an almost empty glass off wine at the ceiling. It wasn't really the sight of her staggering   
around and weaving around the chairs and tables that had shocked Serena and brought the angry   
glint to Darien's eyes, though any reasonable person would agree that that would be enough, it   
was something else. That something else was a white-haired, purple-eyed man dressed as the   
Winter King. He had an arm wrapped rather possessively around Beryl's waist and was trying to   
maneuver her onto one of the tables. Serena didn't need to be a genius to know exactly what the   
strange man and drunk woman were going to do. It did, however, bring a mortified flush on Serena's  
cheeks.  
  
A furious hiss escaped from between Darien's clamped teeth as he watched as the man was finally  
able to successfully lay Beryl down on one of the tables. Serena winced at the sound and stole a  
sidelong glance at her companion. He was tense with suppressed anger, his shoulders hunched as  
if he feared if he at all straightened he would not have the control to keep from bursting out of the  
closet and into the open. His lips were pressed into a thin white line and his hands were balled  
so tight into fists that his knuckles showed white against the skin. The muscles at his jaw worked   
as he ground his teeth and what little she could see of his eyes made her cold. There was so much  
rage in the midnight of his eyes that what was left of her heart shattered.  
  
He loved Beryl.  
  
How could she have ever doubted it?  
  
What could have made her go along with what Raye had suggested?  
  
What silly little hope had she nurtured that she thought she could lure him away from the red-head.  
  
She was such an idiot.  
  
An imbecile.  
  
Stupid.  
  
Lord, why was Life so cruel?  
  
Why did he have to see Beryl do such a thing? Why did he have to have his heart broken?  
  
It was not fair.  
  
There was a thud, the sound of a rather heavy body hitting a well-polished floor. Serena's  
attention was brought back to the scene before them and she blinked when she found the  
man lying, dazed, on the floor. It seemed Beryl wasn't the only one who'd drunk too much  
this night. The red-head was stooping down from her graceless position on the table and  
was muttering something to her friend before she again burst out into that glass-shattering  
screech she called a laugh. The man, in return, said something that made the laughter  
cease. Serena wanted to hug him. She made a mental note of making sure to show him  
her appreciation in some way shape or form, even if it was putting him out of his misery for  
being the cause of Darien's current pain. Beryl made an angry little sound before she splashed  
the man's face with what was left of her glass of wine. She missed, of course, and most of  
the liquid ended up seeping hungrily into the front of his immaculate white shirt.   
  
Serena squinted in order to see the man's eyes widen with outraged shock. He reached up  
and, after several tries, grabbed Berly around the neck and yanked her off the table and  
onto his lap. She emitted a high-pitched scream that Serena swore threatened to bring the  
roof down on their heads. Berly gathered herself drunkenly to her feet, slapped her male  
companion as hard as she could before stomping furiously out of the library. Of course she  
ended up on the floor several more times courtesy of the chairs lying in her way, but she  
found her way out and the man, pride wounded and costume stained, soon followed.  
  
The silence they left was deafening.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
In Heaven, silence reigned....  
  
Stretched.  
  
Tautened.  
  
And finally broke.  
  
The sound that gently eased Silence away made Venus close her eyes and release a   
shuddering breath.  
  
Serena was crying.  
  
***  
  
She didn't know when the tears started.  
  
She didn't know where they came from.  
  
All Serena was aware of was the grief that had pulled her into its embrace, crooning  
tenderly to her ear like a mother coaxing her beloved child to sleep, and the sorrow  
that had taken her hands in its firm, unrelenting grip. Heaven be merciful, it hurt. Her   
chest ached. The air that came into her lungs burned and scraped against her throat  
like nails. She shivered in the cold of her own making and for a sliver of a moment  
found herself again the eight year old girl painstakingly gathering the crushed petals  
of red roses that had been scattered on snow like a rain of blood. This time, however,  
she was picking up the pieces of her heart. She drew in a shuddering breath and shut  
her eyes.  
  
She didn't want to see his face.  
  
She longed to see his face.  
  
What would it take to have the right to soothe him?  
  
She loved her father, had adored him all her life, and, in that instant when she found herself  
wishing she had been born to different parents, she hated herself. How could she, for any  
moment, think about trading the love she had been given all her life for the money social  
status to have a chance to be Darien's wife.  
  
His wife!  
  
A smile found its way to her lips. His wife. It was a dream. An impossible wish that was the  
crowning glory of all impossible wishes. Yet it was a beautiful one. She was not the wife  
society would deem could make him happy. But she would try. Didn't that count?   
  
"Please..."  
  
Serena turned blindly towards the anguished whisper and found hands carefully brushing away  
her tears.  
  
Darien.  
  
"Please..."  
  
His voice broke on a pleading note.   
  
The young woman's eyes opened, glimmering with tears and what little light could fight its way   
into the small closet. The sadness that was the source of her tears sent Darien's head reeling   
as if he'd been struck. The anger that had been sparked by Berly flared into a rage.  
  
Who hurt you?  
  
Who made you so sad?  
  
The questions in his eyes were never answered. One, he did not ask. Two, because she   
refused to see them there.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
For a second, Darien thought his ears were lying. The earnest look on her tear-streaked  
face, however, told him he had heard her right. She was apologizing.   
  
"I'm so sorry," she whispered brokenly, lifting her hands to cup his face.  
  
He stared down at her, bewildered.  
  
When did he go from being the comforter to being the comforted?  
  
He watched her take a deep breath and felt his heart plummet to lie at her feet when she   
summoned up a brave little smile that made him feel like a child again. The tears had   
transformed her eyes to a blue so dark they were like crushed hyacinths drenched with rain.   
Such beautiful eyes. But so sad.   
  
"Why..." he began haltingly, uncertain for once. "Why do you cry?"  
  
The smile she wore wavered, her breath caught, then the smile returned and bloomed with an  
emotion behind it that left him speechless. He had thought her eyes beautiful before but now....  
  
Heaven, now....  
  
There were simply no words.  
  
He would never forget the first time she smiled at him like that. It was like seeing the first ray of  
dawn caressing the world after being blind for your whole life. It was marvelous. Magnificent.  
Exhilarating.  
  
And it aroused in him a fear so profound it made his skin crawl.  
  
He could see everything in her eyes. There were promises there that would be kept, wishes  
meant to come true and that elusive something that at once drew him and repelled him. He felt  
like a piece of rope she was tying into complicated knots that could never be undone. Darien  
almost drew back from her, self-preservation finally kicking in. However, that was when she  
chose to speak.  
  
"I cry because...," Serena murmured then stopped, unable to stop a heartbroken sound from   
escaping.   
  
Please, Darien wanted to beg, please don't cry.  
  
He hesitated, paused then reached out to her.  
  
You're...  
  
He traced the graceful line of her jaw with his fingertips while one arm encircled her waist  
to draw her to him. In the cramped space of the small closet, he didn't have to pull her very far.  
Serena's eyes widened behind her mask but whatever sound she would have made was silenced  
by his thumb brushing against her lower lip.  
  
Breaking...  
  
They stared at each other, blue eyes diving into blue eyes. That was when Darien realized he  
not only could see everything and forever in those eyes of hers, he could see himself. He  
glimpsed what he had been, what he was and what he could become. So many people  
said the eyes are the windows to the soul. He didn't think they meant that he could look  
into this woman's eyes and see his soul. Not the reflection of himself, but the reality, the  
entirety of his being.  
  
My...  
  
Serena couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.  
They slipped free and trailed down her cheeks, some clinging to her long lashes when she tried  
to blink them away. Lord, how she loved this man.  
  
Heart...  
  
Darien made a small, helpless sound when her tears started again.   
  
::Please don't cry.::  
  
He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.  
  
Serena's arms came around his waist. She tried to stop but she couldn't. So she stood there,  
bewildered by the where and when and who, and wept.  
  
He searched his mind frantically for a way to ease her tears.   
  
::You're breaking my heart.::  
  
He released a shuddering sigh.  
  
Darien bent his head, paused, then gently, tenderly pressed his lips on hers.  
  
The kiss surprised neither of them.  
  
It was natural.  
  
It was needed.  
  
It was indescribable.  
  
The kiss was chaste, sweet, innocent.  
  
It needed to be nothing more.  
  
::Please don't cry. You're breaking my heart.::  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
In Heaven, all that were watching turned their heads away.  
  
In Time, there were those moments that were simply meant to be shared by two individuals and one  
soul alone.  
  
This was such a moment.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
But as with every moments, this one ended.  
  
The two occupants of the tiny librarian's closet pulled apart and stared.  
  
Sunlit blue met midnight, locked and held.  
  
"I..." Darien began brokenly, desperately searching for the words that could convey the swirling,  
churning feelings in his gut. They didn't come.   
  
The young woman watched him for several heartbeats before she turned away and worked the  
door open. Light poured into her side of the closet, illuminating one side of her face and casting  
the other into shadow.   
  
"I'm sorry," Darien's voice, low and strained, stopped Serena with one foot out of the their  
hiding place. She turned to look over her shoulder and studied his face. She could not  
find it within herself to be embarrassed by what had just passed. The kiss, to her, was not  
a source of shame. She had done nothing wrong and neither had he. So why was he  
apologizing?  
  
"Why?"  
  
Startled, Darien's lips parted as if forming a reply but again the words he needed eluded him.  
Why was he sorry? Frankly, he didn't know. It just felt like he needed to apologize. He  
wasn't sorry for the kiss, but the emotion that was squeezing its hand around his heart  
needed, demanded, him to say something. He made a sound at the back of his throat and  
studied his shoes for some seconds. When he looked up, the young woman had stepped  
out of the closet and was standing a couple of feet away with her back turned towards him.  
For the first time since he had hit puberty, Darien found himself scrambling to follow.  
  
She stopped at the sound of his footsteps and pivoted around to offer him a smile.  
  
Understanding.  
  
"You're forgiven," she whispered.  
  
"I-" he broke off and started to reach for her then stopped.  
  
"Thank you," he said, humbled. "Please," he called out when she simply smiled again and turned  
to leave. "Wait."  
  
Again, Serena stopped. She squeezed the hands she had clasped together in from of her and  
offered a silent prayer to heaven. In all honesty, she didn't want to leave but she couldn't  
afford to stay. In the fairy tale she had imagined for them he would sweep her in her arms  
and they would ride away into the sunset towards their happily ever after, but their reality  
would not allow that. There were just some things that could not be granted by any wish,  
no matter how much the heart desired it. One day she wanted to have children, but she  
knew that those children would not have black hair and the bluest blue for eyes. It was  
about time she truly understood and faced that fact.  
  
Perhaps some good would come out of this after all.  
  
When she had been child, she'd never though this day would come. She'd blindly believed  
that the powers that be would allow her to be an angel to that little boy who'd given her  
his Christmas gold coin and a poorly made cresent moon. Time passed and the little girl  
grew up and learned that there were enough guardian angels in heaven that none needed  
to be on earth.  
  
"Look at me," Darien's insistent tone broke through her thoughts and she automatically  
turned.  
  
He had taken off his mask.  
  
He stood before her, the domino mask held in one hand, uncertainty written on every line  
of his perfect features. She had thought him beautiful from so close a distance with the mask  
on; she was completely unprepared for the impact he had on her knees with it off.  
  
Heaven be merciful, men who looked like that should be outlawed.  
  
"My name is Darien Shields," he began slowly, taking one cautious step towards her as if   
afraid she'd flee. "Mina, the hostess, is my cousin."  
  
Serena watched him warily from behind her mask and almost grinned. Wouldn't he be surprised  
if she told him that she knew all this already. And more. She knew where most of his scars  
were on his body, which way he liked his hot chocolate and coffee prepared, what his favorite  
Christmas present was, whether he snored when he slept. . . . It was amusing to have him  
tell her his name.  
  
That was when she realized he was looking at her, expectantly. He was waiting for her to  
introduce herself.  
  
Serena felt her stomach plummet to her feet in a cold knot. "Nice to meet you," she managed  
to say rather tightly while sidling away from him, hoping he would not pursue the subject and  
let her go.  
  
"I have a younger sister," Darien continued. "Her name is Raye."  
  
Serena kept on creeping towards the door. "Ah... That's nice," she murmured.  
  
With three long strides he was at her side and leaning down towards her face. "She told  
me she was your friend."  
  
Serena squeaked and began to open and close her mouth like a fish out of water.  
  
"May I know your name?" Darien queried with a lazy smile that took its sweet time spreading  
over his sensual lips.  
  
Serena squeaked again. "No," she blurted out and darted away from him.  
  
Darien, taken off guard by her abrupt and unexpected reply, could only stare with a  
bemused smile at the space on the floor she had previously occupied. The quiet click of the  
library door closing drew out a sigh from him.  
  
"Well," he murmured as he refastened the domino mask on his face. "Maybe I can convince  
her to dance with me." He grinned and, whistling, left the library.  
  
The closet, its doors left ajar, was left for the servants to find in the morning. The two girls who had  
been assigned to clean the library would sigh in mild annoyance at the silly old librarian who always  
seemed to forget not to simply toss his drab brown clothes onto the closet floor. They wouldn't even  
remember that the librarian had gone to visit his only grandchild and had been gone for a week and that  
the closet had stood undisturbed for even longer a time.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________  
More Author's Notes:  
  
In a closet. Who'd have thought. I actually couldn't see a way to get them out of there... ^^;  
  
That was short. O.O *winces* It's about two-thirds the length of the previous chapters. I   
apologize but somehow... I couldn't bring myself to write anymore. *yeeks at the melodrama   
in the chapter*  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES ARE ADDICTIVE!!!  
  
I mean... *coff* Any suggestions on where they go from here? ¬.¬ Ummm... Not the bedroom.  
Although the idea does have benefits! XD *ducks* That was a joke. I'd do a horrible job at  
writing that. I'll leave it to the writers who accomplish such things with taste and grace.  
Suggestions are more than welcome at this point. Please?   
  
Well, I hope it wasn't disappointing. Again, I apologize for it being so short. And thank you,   
THANK YOU, for reading.   
  
Always,  
Dina 


End file.
